Social Proof Popups & Real-Time Notifications – Herd Effects

73 Quality Score

Active Installs

14/30

With only 1,000 active installs, it has a small but loyal user base relative to category leaders like NotificationX at 40,000 installs.

Update Freshness

25/25

The plugin was last updated in May 2026, which scores perfectly on the maintenance metric and signals active development.

User Rating

12/15

A 78 out of 100 rating from 15 reviewers is decent, though the small sample size makes it hard to draw firm conclusions about satisfaction.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads and zero resolutions is a yellow flag: there is simply no public evidence that the developer responds to user issues.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Full marks here thanks to PHP 7.4 support, WordPress 5.0 minimum, and confirmed testing through WordPress 7.0.

Scores higher than 29% of indexed plugins

About

Boost conversions with real-time social proof popups and user activity notifications, encouraging visitor actions on your WordPress site.

Active Installs 1k+

Rating ★★★½ 3.9/5

Last Updated 2026-08-25 6:02am GMT

Requires WordPress 5.0+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 7.4+

Security History

6 known vulnerabilities, all patched

1 High 5 Medium

Most recent: January 24, 2025

View details ▸

Herd Effects <= 6.2.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Settings Update Medium

January 24, 2025 Patched in ["6.2.2"] CVE-2025-24716

Herd Effects – fake notifications and social proof plugin <= 5.2.6 - Cross-Site Request Forgery Medium

April 11, 2024 Patched in ["5.2.7"] CVE-2024-3478

Herd Effects <= 5.2.2 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting Medium

August 21, 2023 Patched in ["5.2.3"] CVE-2023-4022

Herd Effects <= 5.2.3 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Effect Deletion Medium

August 21, 2023 Patched in ["5.2.4"] CVE-2023-4318

Multiple Wow-Company Plugins (Various Versions) -- Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via 'page' parameter Medium

May 22, 2023 Patched in ["5.2.2"] CVE-2023-2362

Herd Effects <= 5.2 - Local File Inclusion High

May 16, 2022 Patched in ["5.2.1"] CVE-2022-29448

What It Does

Herd Effects displays real-time social proof popups on your WordPress site, showing recent user activity, purchases, or sign-ups to nudge visitors toward conversion. It is designed to create urgency and trust by demonstrating that other people are actively engaging with your content right now.

Who It's For

This plugin is best suited for small e-commerce stores, course creators, and SaaS landing pages that want to add FOMO-style conversion nudges without committing to a heavier toolkit. It fits sites with modest traffic that still need a lightweight mechanism to show social proof.

Who Should Skip It

If you run a content-heavy blog, a non-commercial portfolio, or any site where popups would detract from the reading experience, skip this plugin. It also falls short for larger stores that need deep WooCommerce event tracking, geo-targeted notifications, or analytics dashboards.

The Bottom Line

Herd Effects delivers a focused, well-maintained real-time social proof popup tool with solid technical basics, but its tiny install base and absent public support track record mean you are betting on a less proven option. It is a fair choice for a small site owner comfortable troubleshooting on their own, and less appropriate for anyone who values community vetting or built-in support.

Related Plugins

NotificationX 83/100

Pick this when you need a mature plugin with 40,000 installs, WooCommerce and EDD integration, and advanced analytics.

Real Testimonials 82/100

Choose this if your social proof strategy centres on collected reviews and sliders rather than live activity notifications.

WP Google Review Slider 82/100

Go with this alternative when Google Business reviews are your primary trust signal and you want an easy embed.

WP TripAdvisor Review Slider 79/100

Best for travel, hospitality, or restaurant sites that need TripAdvisor reviews rendered as a slider.

WP Review Slider 79/100

Useful when Facebook page reviews are your main source of social proof and you want a focused reviewer display.